Creator of Time
by shinigamigirl196
Summary: Rewrite of Creation. People so easily confused her Song as her Innocence, but they were wrong. Her true ability was to Create. She was one half of the coin that could bring the Millennium Earl down. For Destruction and Creation went hand in hand. Allen and Colette. The 14th and 15th. Bookman had tried so hard to erase her from history, but she remained. The Singer.
1. On Angel's Wings

**Disclaimer: Katsura Hoshino owns D. Gray Man **

**Creator of Time: Chapter One: On Angel Wings**

**AN: Alright, so I decided to rewrite Creation because I decided it was moving a little too fast for my taste, so I'm going to slow it down this second time around because I want to develop Colette more as a character, and Lavi too (he's just so complicated and adorable!). Allen's being a cute little mofo at the start of this, and sorry for the long time jump, but that's the way it's going to go, so deal.**

* * *

The shack wasn't much, but it was home, for now at least. She sighed softly, throwing the thin blanket over her brother as he slept.

Her name was Walker, just Walker. It wasn't a surname and it wasn't a given name…it was just her name. She wasn't sure how she got the name, but she was a talented tight-rope walker, so it might've come from that.

Walker shivered at the coolness of the wind. She and Little Brother would have to be moving soon, the weather was getting cold, and that wasn't really ideal for an orphaned seven and four year old.

She was startled out of her musings by the sudden banging on the small shack's door. Casting a swift glance to her brother, her face colored with slight relief when he only turned to sleep on his opposite side. She then wrenched the door open to glare at the person beyond.

"What the ruddy _hell_-?"

Walker recognized the visage of the man they called Bookman. Walker was quite familiar with him, after all, she had stolen a number of ancient texts for him (she preferred to call him the Old Librarian) during the past year. His age-old eyes peered through the heavy black circles. Walker's eyes darted towards the stilled form of his apprentice thrown over his shoulder. Walker gritted her teeth. She didn't much like the Junior Bookman…there just didn't seem to be anything _real_ about him…

"What d'you want?" she demanded.

"Walker-san." Bookman sounded out of breath and her eyes, against her will, darted to Junior's unmoving form. She paled slightly. "Your help, please?"

Though the way he said it made it seem not quite like a question, more of a command. Defiance brimmed inside of her, but then it snapped and Walker stepped aside, allowing him to enter, and it was only then that she saw the blood.

"What happened?" she asked, stunned as Bookman laid his apprentice out on the rough and short table, his head and legs dangling over the sides. The only eye Walker could clearly see was winced shut as he grimaced in pain.

"An accidental shot," Bookman said in a low voice as red bloomed on Junior's side. "You must heal him."

"Must I?" Walker asked in a voice much cooler than before, one that was hardly her own. Bookman's eyes narrowed slightly, recalling the voice on a very different person entirely. "I know no healing, Bookman, I cannot-"

"If you used your skill, you could," Bookman retaliated. True, he could easily heal his apprentice, but he needed to see, he needed to be certain.

"Nee-chan?"

Walker made a startled noise as a small boy with the same coloring of auburn hair and grey eyes peered around the corner to stare inquisitively at their company.

"Go back to bed, Otouto," Walker said, her voice firm but soft. 'Otouto' canted his head to the side, much like his sister often did, eyeing their present company, before conceding to his sister's order and disappearing back to the single ratty bed that they shared.

Walker peeled the fabric away from Junior's side, making the seven year old wince in his pain-induced slumber. The blood kept pouring…how was Walker meant to heal a wound like this?

"I-I can't," she said after a moment of silence, "this is beyond-"

"Please."

Walker looked up startled. Never had she ever heard Bookman utter the word 'please' to her in living memory, though, she had to admit, her memory wasn't too impressive. But he'd said it twice now.

Her Song, on the other hand, could be a force to reckoned with, her had once told her, but it was unstable, and dangerous. For a Parasitic-type weapon, it was rather…divided, she supposed, not very unified with her body.

In short, she didn't trust it.

And she didn't trust Junior, either, in fact, she might say she hated him with his eye that reflected everything and showed nothing. But she couldn't just let him die, that would be too cruel.

The Song had many forms, many different notes, but only one was used for healing.

Walker began to softly hum, a tune she had sang many times before when her brother was injured, to heal his wounds, but this was different. Otouto had never been as seriously injured as Junior was…one wrong step, and…

_Another successor to the Bookman lost_, a voice whispered in the back of her mind.

The flowing of blood slowly stilled and flesh healed over, leaving only a stain of red on his side. Bookman sighed in relief and Walker resisted wiping the red on her hands onto her patched slip. Walker closed her eyes.

"_Nea! Nea! Stay with me! Nora, get back!"_

"_Mana, look out!"_

_The world was painted red._

Walker felt faint, but she forced her face not to give it away as she quickly left the small shack to head in the direction of the stream. It was chilly, but Walker hardly felt it as she thrust her crimson painted hands into the icy water, eager to be rid of the color.

She head was throbbing from using the Song. She tried hard not to use it as much, but sometimes there were necessities that just couldn't be avoided.

Walker scrubbed at her hands under the water, allowing the blood to rise from her skin in a cloud of pink. When the crimson finally left her completely, she splashed the cold water in her face, still feeling her hands shaking from the sight of Junior's injuries.

He had been shot, had he? Who would have done such a thing?

Walker shook her head. It didn't matter, it wasn't any of her business. It wasn't as though they were on speaking terms or anything. He aggravated her more than anything she had met in her short seven years of life and had an irritating trait of trying to get her to smile whenever their paths crossed (which thankfully wasn't often).

He reminded her painfully of someone else, but she couldn't be sure of who exactly it was.

* * *

Junior slept through most of the next few days, and Walker couldn't blame him for that, unfortunately it brought up their number of house guests, thus making the shack rather small, and it had already been that. They wouldn't be able to afford it for much longer, Walker knew, they'd probably have to stick with the circus from now on. She sighed at the thought, but it was better than nothing. And then she blinked.

The mop of familiar bright hair was gone. Where had Junior gone?

Junior, it so happened, was outside on a nearby hill under the shade of a tree, sleeping soundly, a little bit of drool leaving his mouth as he did so.

"That's nice."

He jerked awake suddenly at her voice, wiping his mouth quickly, the movement jarring his side, as his single eyes met hers.

Walker crossed her arms, arching an eyebrow at him in an almost superior manner (or as much of it a seven year old could pull off). He grinned at her as she willingly sat down next to him, earning him a sharp glance. There were sparkles on her face, like glimmering freckles; she must have just come from a show, doing some amazing acrobatics whilst perched atop a rope, no doubt. Her long reddish-brown hair was spun with the same sparkles, and her grey eyes were surveying him carefully.

"You really shouldn't be moving around, you'll open your wound," she said in a dry manner, tapping out a tune against her knee.

"Eh," Junior said in a careless way, "I'll be fine."

"You didn't look fine when you were swimming in blood."

He spared her a bright grin. "Aw! You sound like you actually care, Lettie-chan~!"

A pale flush dusted her cheeks and Junior gave a mental cheer. "Lettie?" she said the name as though it was the strangest thing she had heard him say.

Junior shrugged. "You don't really have a name, so I made up one for you: Colette."

"Colette," Walker repeated flummoxed.

"Do you not like it? It means Victory of the People."

"Why did you make me a name?" Walker asked, eyeing him strangely. "I hardly like you."

His grin turned into a bit of a grimace at the bluntness of her words. "Why?"

"What d'you mean why?"

"Just…why?" Junior had a thirst for knowledge and no one else could deny that.

The warm wind rustled her coppery hair as she surveyed him coolly, her eyes shining almost silver as the sun bore down on them. Junior wasn't sure he liked the expression she was wearing, but they were distracted as her little brother toddled into view, reaching out for her. Junior watched as she took him in her arms, smiling brightly at him. There was a fondness in her eyes that Junior had only seen when she was with the smaller, male version of her.

"Why did you want to become a Bookman?" she finally asked him, changing the subject and twirling a loose lock of her brother's hair between her fingers as the boy stared unabashedly at Junior. Walker on the other hand was staring out at the plains beyond, her eyes a bit opaque, the exact color of storm clouds before a long rain.

The question surprised Junior, because no one had ever asked him that before. Of course, he knew the answer, but it was more about the fact that people rarely asked his opinion -as you know, Bookmen were trained to be impartial and unbiased at all times.

"Because...because I get to know things that no one else will." His smile became distant and Walker fastened her eyes upon him.

"Have you been disappointed?" she blurted out.

She could tell that the question startled him by the way he whipped his head around to look at her, his green eye widening just barely.

"Because of the wars," She continued, elaborating for him.

"Oh…" Junior scrunched his nose up a little, frowning a bit as he searched for a suitable answer before just saying. "Humans disappoint me."

Her little brother tilted his head back to look at his sister (Junior wondered if he talked at all; every time he saw him, the boy was silent). Walker's lips twisted upwards, and then there was an echoing rustic noise that reverberated around them.

She was _laughing._

Her head ducked as her shoulders shook with laughter, laughter that was so unrefined and unsophisticated that it was out of place with her angular and soft features.

"One should not set their standards too high," she said, still chuckling, winking at her brother who smiled brightly at her. "Humans are often disappointments, but don't we all make mistakes, and don't we all pay for them?"

Junior could feel his ears burning a little. Was that a jibe towards him?

Her lips twisted further upwards. "After all, shouldn't Bookmen be not quite so reckless, getting shot by stray bullets?"

Junior had the decency to look at least sheepish, his cheeks pinking. "Yeah…thanks for that, by the way."

She tilted her head and surveyed him with those sharp eyes of hers once more, though her face was lined with suspicion. His face was very open, hiding nothing, or, perhaps that is what he desired, but she was not so easily swayed.

"Your eyes are like glass."

"Eh?" Junior tilted his head slightly, not quite understanding what she was talking about. "What d'you mean?"

"There is nothing within, no heart, no soul, nothing but a reflection of what we want to see," she said in a serene sort of voice that didn't sound much like her.

"You think I don't have a heart?" he asked in surprise.

She raised an eyebrow. "I think you have grown so used to not using it that _you_ no longer believe you have a heart," she corrected him, her fingers tapping against the bandage that covered her whole right arm with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Perhaps you have forgotten that you are human as well?"

He tensed slightly at those words as she abruptly stood. "Saving your life was a favor for Bookman, that is all. I care little for the ideals of your clan; I prefer things of the more permanent nature."

"And I'm not?"

Her lips twitched again; impressive. He'd never seen her smile so much in the time span of a few minutes.

"Your clan is rather well known for switching sides, aren't they?" she asked dryly. "Remain the observer…no attachments…I wonder how on earth your clan has survived for so long with that mentality."

Her brother frowned. He didn't understand all the big words his sister was using.

"I'm the last." Junior met her eyes as she stood suddenly, taking her brother's hand with a bright smile that the boy replicated. He couldn't help but be a little jealous. She cast him a glance, frowning as she contemplated what to say.

"Bonds mean something, Bookman Junior," Walker said, shaking her head lightly. "Maybe one day you'll understand."

"You're awfully philosophical," Junior called after her, "for being seven."

She arched an eyebrow. "I read."

If she hadn't turned away she would have seen the honest mixture of surprise and amusement on his face.

* * *

The years passed quickly for Walker after that day, faster than Walker would have cared to admit, but she had never really been a child, and every day was a trial. She didn't see Junior or Bookman much after that either, but the hostility she held for him had melted away to something akin to friendship, but that would be entirely too close for Bookman's liking. She could tell that something about her made him uneasy, something he had seen when they had first met.

Junior –his many name changes were so hard to keep track of– made fun of her every time he saw her, ever since he learned he had grown taller than her. Walker could only roll her eyes, even as her cheeks dusted pink every time he called her Lettie-chan in that sing-song voice.

Her little brother was the one she worried so much about. The life they lived wasn't good, she knew, and he had become quite explosive and angry, that is, until they met Mana Walker. Mana had a refined and sophisticated air about him, wearing that ridiculous top hat and beaming brightly at them almost constantly, yet he was somehow a traveling clown. Walker suspected family disownment, but she never mentioned it, because Mana was becoming something like to a father to the both of them. It was strange to view someone like that, but that was what it felt like.

And then that strange red thing had popped up out of nowhere. Walker hadn't seen anything like it before. It was blood red and shaped like a ball with four short horn-like legs. The ball-like body had a floral cross stamped across it, and had a pair of wings and a tail attached.

Walker had been stunned when it suddenly attached itself to her, as if she was its owner, but Mana hadn't been too surprised, in fact, she might even say that he was pleased. It was like he was hoping that would happen, but Walker couldn't be sure why.

Walker gave a forlorn sigh, her eyes drifting to her little brother, who had now taken the name of Allen, who slept peacefully for once. She placed her thin and ratty clanked around his small body in an effort to further insulate him from the cold. She allowed herself a fond smile, kissing his head softly and smoothing his auburn hair from his forehead before straightening up.

Walker rubbed at the long sleeves of her gown, trying to create heat through her friction but to little avail. Walker's eyes fell to her right hand, to its off-white color and the wrinkled and upraised flesh had looked not unlike feathers, but there was nothing beautiful about her deformity. Walker herself disliked the arm immensely. It was a dormant container, as Bookman had once said, designed to hold her Innocence yet not being the source of her power. The marred flesh stretched from the tips of her fingers all the way up her arm, over her shoulder, to reach the side of her throat. It was very difficult to hide.

But everyone at the circus was used to the Deformed Duo and their messed up arms by now, Walker was only glad that Mana didn't mind at all. He just smiled that kind smile that made Walker feel her age for once, saying she and Allen were like mirror-images of each other. Their deformities were on opposite arms and their appearances were nearly identical.

Walker gave another long sigh, turning out of the circus campsite out onto the cobble road. She kicked a rock as she went, frowning lightly. It wasn't rare to see the thirteen year old strolling through the streets of London, but usually she was practicing at this time of day. The lifestyle of a tightrope walker was rather demanding, and she had taken over as the tightrope lead, after the main one had sustained an injury after the untimely death of her older sister. Amelia Archer barely had any patience to deal with "a child with no ability," but Walker had very good balance, and she was a born entertainer.

Amelia, truthfully, worried Walker. She could tell that there was something off about her. Obviously the death of her sister had hit her hard, but…

Walker rounded on the winding brick road until she was on the outskirts, still glancing around in search of the young woman. She came to an entrance to a graveyard and Walker frowned at it before silently entering the graveyard.

"Amelia?" Walker called softly; it didn't seem right for her to speak above a whisper in such an area. "Amelia?" She may not have like the woman, but losing someone who was that close to you couldn't be easy.

The graveyard was quiet, something that didn't surprise Walker, but she had to admit that the silence and the headstones gave off an eerie feeling, making Walker uneasy. She opened her mouth to call the woman's name again when something interrupted her, a second voice.

"Good~ !" a childish voice was saying, the voice colored with impish joy. The voice struck an odd chord with Walker, like she should know the voice, but didn't; it sent a chill down her spine. "Now speak your beloved's name and recall her from the grave!" At those words, Walker's throat closed up.

An image flashed before her eyes, a top hat and a man with a large broadsword…she could still feel it as it pierced through her body-

Walker quickened her pace until she was running, her heart hammering in her chest as she screamed, "Amelia, no!" But the woman didn't listen, or maybe she couldn't, too focused on the task at hand.

"Helen!" Amelia cried out, her voice trembling with pain and love, but most of all, joy.

She had directed the name to something that had Walker staring. She had never seen anything like it and it sent a tremor through her. It was metallic-looking skeleton that had come to life in an instant, the name Helen written out on the cranium.

"Amelia," Helen's voice cried from the hinged jaw that creaked with every movement. "How could you?! How could you do this to me?!"

"What?" Amelia gasped, taking a step back slightly, in shock at the words that had been uttered in her sister's voice, shocked by the anger.

"Now kill this woman and wear her skin as your own!" Her companion cried out in a sort of coo that one typically adopted when speaking to an infant or toddler.

With a sudden burst of speed, Walker barreled through the clearing, almost stopping short when she saw him. He was not what Walker was expecting; she was expecting black robes, a scythe, and a skeletal face. But he was a vast man with grey-tinged skin and an enormous grin. If she had time, she would have probably stopped and stared.

"_Good evening, Earl,"_ a voice whispered in her mind.

"AMELIA!" screamed Walker, doing something that was both brave and incredibly foolish. She threw herself in the way of the newly born undead creature. Its blade-like arm sliced through her right eye as it screamed, cursing its sister, who it believed it had cut. Walker clapped her hands to her eye and screamed bloody murder as something shot from behind her, piercing the creature through the heart.

"Walker? Are you alright?" Distantly, she recognized that it was Amelia, cradling her in her arms. Something wet hit the left side of her face; Amelia was crying. That made her feel worse.

"I'm so sorry!" the woman sobbed heartbreakingly. "This is all my fault!"

"That we can agree on," a rude voice commented, immediately setting Walker on edge, even in her delirium.

Tina Sparks' eyes fell on the small girl, surprised and impressed by her gall, and then her eyes widened. The slice was already healing over…what was this? Innocence? Innocence that could heal? She had never heard of such a thing.

"Sol." Her voice drew her companion's eyes to her and she pointed to the girl. Sol followed her eyes and he too was rather struck.

"An Accommodator?" He guessed.

"Any other explanation?" Tina asked with an arched eyebrow.

There wasn't one. And unfortunately they were in need of new exorcists, she was going to have to come with them.

"And I'm afraid we'll be taking the girl with us," Sol Galen added, making towards the still hysterical woman and the bleeding child.

Walker opened her left eye with difficulty to blearily gaze upon the offender. He was tall with dark skin and tightly braided hair, and his eyes were filled with cruelty. She only felt distrust towards him, him and his silver cross emblazoned uniform.

"No," moaned Walker, moving slightly back in an attempt to distance her from the intimidating man. "I want Mana! I want Allen!"

"Too bad!" he sneered, grabbing her by the scruff of her neck and swiftly knocking her out, her world fading into blackness.

Tina's lips curled in disapproval, but there was little she could do. It wasn't as though she could change her fellow's attitude, that was like asking Yuu Kanda to stop being…himself, it just wasn't possible.

"She'll have to be taken to Central. C'mon."

Tina followed after Sol with a glance back to the woman, before turning to place a hand on her shoulder. "Tell her family that she'll be well looked after as an Exorcist of the Black Order."

But Central…Tina couldn't say that she approved of that decision…

But they needed Exorcists.

And as they moved down the road, deep inside Walker slept a true force to be reckoned with, for Song may have seemed to be her Innocence gift, but Creation was the truth of her skills, and one day those fools would see it.

**AN: Let me know what you think! REVIEW!**


	2. A New Home

**Disclaimer: Katsura Hoshino owns D. Gray Man**

**Creator of Time: Chapter Two: A New Home**

**AN: Thank you to those of you who reviewed! I know Creation wasn't as popular as Looking Beyond, but I still enjoy what you all think of the fic!**

* * *

_"LET ME GO!" Walker screamed, beating her fists and kicking her legs against the man's. "YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME! LET ME GO!"_

_No! They couldn't put that inside her! She already had Innocence! Couldn't they see that? Why weren't they listening? Why wasn't anyone coming? Surely they could hear her, she was screaming bloody murder, after all. The whole building should have been able to hear her, but no one came._

_"Now!" A voice barked, taking a moment to curl her arms away from her front to push something glowing and green into her chest. Walker froze as the Innocence merged with her completely, too in shock to move._

_No. No! This was wrong! This wasn't hers! She may not have used hers, but she would take it over this one any day!_

_"Wasn't so hard, now was it?" the man asked, her dark eyes malevolent, his lips twitching into a wicked smile._

_And that was when it started. Walker's eyes bulged and she clutched at her chest as if she could not breathe, her heart thumping painfully as she spat up blood onto the floor. Walker fell to the ground writhing and then the screaming started. She clutched her head as if it was the cause of her misery, screaming as if someone had run several white-hot pokers through her chest. Then cuts appeared on her skin from the forcing of the Innocence upon her, and blood spilt from numerous slices as she continued to scream, not seeming to be able to stop. But pain of her physical injuries was nothing compared to the pain inside her._

_It was as if her blood had turned to fire in her veins, it was threatening to consume her. Walker's consciousness was slowly fading, leaving her with nothing but her own memories and as her world fell to darkness she thought of Allen who undoubtedly thought she had abandoned him and her heart felt ripped in two…_

Yuu Kanda didn't know why he of all people was being dragged to Central of all places with Reever, but at least he didn't have to bother to keep the insults to a minimum; Reever was far too used to his attitude to care. He'd heard that a new Exorcist had been found. He scoffed; nuisance. That still didn't mean anything to him. He didn't care about new Exorcists. Komui had said it was a delicate case, but he hadn't understood why until he saw her.

Her hair was long, white and ratty, a scar slicing diagonally through her eye (at least, that was the way it seemed, the eye couldn't be seen from under the bandages), the scar ending at her jaw, and her visible eye was grey and distant. She absently held out a finger to allow something round, red, and with wings to perch atop. The golem –for that was what it must have been– nudged her finger affectionately.

She was strapped to the bed, her arms and legs bound as if she had gone to many lengths to escape.

It seemed as though Central had forced Innocence upon her and it hadn't quite gone to plan, if the number of bandages that were secured to her body were any indication.

She stiffened when she saw the pair, her eyes darting between Kanda and Reever. Kanda was sure she would have flinched entirely if Reever had been wearing his lab coat. Her eye fastened on his dark ones, moving to his silver cross that marked him as an Exorcist, and then to the sword at his hip. Her eyebrows furrowed and she glanced to the two pistols on the bedside table, her Innocence no doubt.

"Miss Walker?" Reever spoke gently and her eye snapped back to him. "My name is Reever Wenhamm, I'm a scientist for the European Division of the Black Order, this is Yuu Kanda (Reever flinched at the glare that was bestowed upon him by the irate Japanese boy for using his first name), he's an Exorcist."

She blinked. "Exor…cist?" she murmured, speaking for the first time in a long while, the word cracking halfway.

"That's right," Reever said gently as Kanda scrutinized her. She reminded him a bit of Lenalee Lee. "Like you."

"Me?" She said blankly, curiosity lighting her eye as the red golem began gnawing through the leather straps.

"Yes."

"A-are you going to hu-urt me too?" she rasped, her voice weakening as she spoke.

"No," Reever promised as her freed hands pushed up against the mattress, the movement making her wince, until she was sitting up. "What's your first name?"

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out and her shoulders slumped. "I-I don't really have one," she admitted.

Kanda eyed her curiously as one of her bandaged fingers played over her stomach.

"Junior…" She frowned suddenly. "He called me Colette…I'd like to be called that…and this is Roseanne."

The red golem bared its teeth at them.

"She bites."

Kanda's lips twitched slightly into a smirk, but only slightly.

"We'll keep it in mind," Reever said as the golem hovered close in an almost threatening manner before flying closer to Kanda who leaned back a little. Colette lifted her only visible eye to gaze upon him, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. Kanda's attitude seemed refreshing to her, as she'd been living with bad tempered people all her life. Her lips twitched upwards slightly. Maybe being in the Black Order wouldn't be as bad as one might think.

"She likes you," she mused, giving a barely discernible whistle that had the golem returning to her. Kanda thought it was rather like a cat, rubbing its face against hers like that.

Kanda scowled and her lips curled slightly.

She had a feeling that she would get along very well with Yuu Kanda, even with his bad attitude, perpetual scowl, and lack of manners. Colette was far too used to that type.

* * *

Lenalee Lee was very excited, and even that was an understatement. There was a new Exorcist coming! _A girl!_ And she was only two years older than Lenalee! But Komui Nii-san had warned her about being calm. He had said she had been taken to Central rather than to HQ, why, he couldn't fathom, as the girl was a citizen of Britain, but she hadn't taken too well to their treatment.

Lenalee shivered. She had experienced firsthand the cruelty of Inspector Malcolm Leverrier, and it wasn't a very pleasant memory for her.

"Are there a lot of Exorcists?" an unfamiliar voice asked. Lenalee's stomach was in a flutter; she was here!

"No." She couldn't help but be surprised at the grated patience in Kanda's voice, her dark purple eyes widening as the girl rounded the corner, shoulder to shoulder with Kanda. Her first thought was she looked like a moon spirit with that pure white hair and grey eyes, but then her eyes were drawn to the girl's right arm which was hidden under heavy bandages, but they didn't cover her shoulder or neck…was that a burn?

The girl was glancing around nervously, gripping his hand in a surprisingly tight manner. Kanda's eyes were narrowed in irritation at her actions, but he didn't pull himself away; Lenalee wondered if maybe her grip was that tight.

"The Finders and Scientists outnumber the Exorcists."

"Oh." Her eyes fell a little. "You have to train hard, then?"

"Yes," Kanda said curtly.

"Can you help me?"

Kanda grunted.

"Please?" Making her eyes big didn't seem to work on him and Lenalee hid a giggle, so she switched tactics. "You'll get to kick my ass around," she said in a light voice, something that seemed to interest him immensely. After all, Kanda was all for kicking people's asses.

Kanda grumbled his assent.

"Thanks, Yuu."

His eyes glinted dangerously as he glared venomously at the girl who –to her credit– didn't so much as blink. "Dammit, Colette! I told you not to call me that!"

"It's your name, isn't it?" The girl, Colette, asked with a quirked eyebrow. "What's so bad about calling you by your name?"

Kanda ground his teeth together before opening his mouth, no doubt to say a scathing remark, leaving Lenalee a perfect opportunity to introduce herself.

"Hello!"

Colette Walker jumped violently at her voice, twisting around to see her and staring at the Chinese girl's wide grin.

"Hi," she said a little weakly.

"I'm Lenalee Lee," Lenalee said brightly, "I'm an Exorcist too."

"Ah…" An awkwardness hung in the air as Kanda finally managed to escape Colette's tight grip and bolt down towards the training room in search of someone's face to pound into the floor…maybe Marie was back, he was always someone good to spar against…

"My brother's Komui, he's the Supervisor of the Black Order," Lenalee continued, not really deterred by Colette's lack of speech. "He's looking for you. I can take you to him."

"Ah…" Colette repeated again, her feet spurred forward as Roseanne gave her a sharp nudge in the small of her back. "I mean, yes, thank you." Mana would never forgive her if she didn't thank people for kindness, even if it was a lesson Allen rather ignored.

Lenalee gave her a soft smile and Colette frowned, falling into step beside her. Lenalee Lee reminded her a little of Allen, like how he used to be before he started hiding behind that angry mask. They couldn't have been more than a year or two apart in age.

"How old are you?"

Lenalee's eyebrows raised slightly at the question. "I'm eleven, why?"

Colette's eyes grew far off and a forlorn expression overtook her face, but she didn't elaborate. Maybe Colette had lost someone to Akuma the way Komui and Lenalee had lost their parents.

"Ah, there you are, I was starting to get worried."

Colette leaned her head back to look at the man who had spoken. This must be Komui, her companion's brother. He was garbed in white, indicative of his status with a pair of wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. He had a kind smile, Colette noticed right away, nothing like Junior's had been when they first met.

"Hello, Colette," he said, bending down so that he was level with the child. "Welcome to the Black Order."

Colette blinked rapidly. "Er, thanks, I'm, uh, I-" She was a muddle of embarrassment and confusion; she felt so out of the loop. Akuma and Exorcists…the only thing that even remotely made sense to her was Innocence.

"I'll explain everything, I promise," Komui said with a warm, welcoming smile, extending his hand to her.

An invitation.

Colette stared at it for a moment before she steeled her nerves and she raised her own, taking his hand with hardly a second thought.

"_Keep walking forward, never stop,"_ that voice whispered in her head, Mana's mantra, and she did.

* * *

Colette wouldn't say that she got used to living at the Black Order HQ immediately, but there were many people to guide her and help her along the way, so that slowly, but surely, the building was becoming something like a home to her.

Komui had taken a shine to her (Kanda warned her he might develop another sister complex and make all of their lives even more miserable) and Reever was always willing to patiently explain things to her, or even just talk about pointless things that often had her in stitches.

Jerry was nothing short of an angel, because Colette needed to eat, as Reever put it, enough to feed ten grown men, maybe even more. Jerry was the Head Chef and was positively ecstatic at the amount of food that Colette ate, why, Colette couldn't be sure.

Lenalee and Kanda were a godsend, really. Colette must've had a death wish calling Kanda 'Yuu' but she had yet to perish by his hand (though that didn't stop her from being immensely bruised in training), so she took that as a good sign. Lenalee was sweet and gentle and the favorite of the Science Division, and she was overjoyed that there was a new female Exorcist that was close to her age, so even if Colette didn't have much to say, she could always listen or be listened to when need be.

Colette spun wildly, the hit grazing her side, sending a flare of pain through her, but she ignored it for the most part; it would fade soon.

"Are you two planning on stopping anytime soon?" Reever asked with slight boredom.

It was now noon and the pair had been going at it since late the previous night, as it would be a couple more days to a week before Colette was deemed fit for duty and a General was chosen to further her training, which she knew wasn't very impressive, which was why Colette had been practically insisting upon training for hours on end. She was lucky Kanda was all for kicking her ass.

_"Shut up!"_ they both snapped, an aura of fire surrounding them and Reever had to raise his hands upwards in surrender. They were impossible when they got in those moods of theirs.

"Ready to give up, old hag?" Kanda taunted, his grin dangerous.

"Not on your life, girlie man!" The feral smile that had erupted onto Colette's face could match his. In the weeks that had followed her coming to HQ, she had come a bit more out of her shell than she had ever expected to.

"Why, you-!"

What was so hilarious was that their swords had long since shattered and their punches and kicks had become so slow and sluggish that they had resorted to throwing insults at each other. Exhaustion was really the only victor in this battle.

Colette threw one last kick and gave a startled yelp as his hand closed around her injured ankle from the previous training session, yanking her clear off the ground, hanging upside down.

Unfortunately for Kanda, it didn't stay that way for long. Colette gripped his own ankles, knocking them out from underneath him and sending the pair to the ground. However, a miscalculation ended her turning tide in the battle.

"Are you alright?" Reever asked in concern as the cloud of dust cleared, revealing the jumbled pair.

"No problem," Colette gasped from underneath Kanda's back, her eyes dizzying spirals. "I can assure you we are professionals."

Reever could only give her a slightly amused smile in return as she kicked Kanda off her, ensuing another battle of wills.

"They could go on for hours at this point," Johnny Gill of the Science Division said in worry, but Reever waved a dismissive hand.

"Don't worry about it, they'll quit as soon as Colette gets hungry."

As if on cue, a loud rumbling noise came from Colette's stomach, forcing the girl to drop to her knees, clutching her stomach, her face as white as her eyes were dazed. "Food…"she mumbled, reaching a vain hand out to nothing (a hallucination, no doubt).

Reever jerked his head towards her. "Well, Johnny, there you have it."

Johnny felt a sheepish smile morph onto his face as his supervising officer walked over to Colette and gripped the back of her shirt, dragging her off to the cafeteria while she moaned for food, stumbling into a standing position.

"Oh man!" Colette complained. "I feel like I could eat several horses!"

"I thought you felt like that every day," Reever said in surprise, referring to Colette's monstrous appetite; Reever was sure Jerry was half in love with the partial albino.

Colette poked her tongue between her lips at his response, looking distinctly childish for someone with her appearance.

"Jerry! I want two servings of chicken curry, szuchuan tofu, an omelette, rice and eggplant, two meat pies, baked yam and egg flour soup, mustard fried rice, lamb steak..." The list went on and on and Reever could feel a sweat drop forming on his head.

Reever wondered if she noticed the odd looks she was getting for the sheer amount of food she was ordering, but Jerry seemed happy enough.

"You got it cutie pie!"

She needed a cart to get it all the way back to a table, but she didn't complain, eating it far too happily, while her golem munched on stray food. She scowled at it, frowning a little. Being in the Order was nice and all, but Colette couldn't help but worry about Mana and Allen. Surely they missed her? Colette shook the thought from her head. Of course they missed her!

"Colette?" Reever asked in concern once he caught sight of her oddly expressionless face. "Is something wrong?"

Grey eyes blinked in surprise, the fog clearing from them as she did so. "Oh, no, sorry!" she grinned sheepishly. "I've been really spaced out lately."

She held out a finger allowing the red golem to rest on it like a perch, still chewing on some steak, her tail moving back and forth in time with her chews. Colette scowled at Roseanne as the golem gave her wide grin.

"You should take the rest of the day off," Reever said looking her over with a critical eye. Her clothes hung off her thin frame, which was no doubt from a combination of her treatment at Central and the street lifestyle that Colette had for years before coming to the Black Order, and the bruises from her training were large and obvious.

"Wha-?!" Colette gaped at him, his words stunning her. "But Reever!"

"Your ankle is still seriously injured and you're still healing from the injuries your Innocence gave you," Reever reminded the girl. "Limit your training with Kanda to only part of the day and do something non-strenuous for the rest of the day."

Colette huffed in annoyance, munching angrily on a potato, not realizing her golem had already eaten some of her leftovers.

Kanda had one more soba noodle left when it suddenly vanished and he glared at Roseanne. The golem in question didn't seem too concerned with her safety, her teeth appearing, bared in an evil grin. Kanda's eye twitched, but, surprisingly, he said nothing.

That forlorn expression was back. "Colette?"

"Fine," she muttered under her breath in a grumble, stabbing mutinously at a carrot before standing up to return her pile of dishes to the front. She paused for the briefest amount of time, before visibly shaking herself into awareness and stalking off, making her way up to where Komui's office was located.

Colette stared...and then she blinked...and then she stared again at the scene before her.

"What the bloody hell?" She queried to no one. "Does no one know how to sort through papers these days?"

The room she was staring into was a complete and utter pig sty! There was parchment completely covering the floor so that one might think that the papers _were_ the floor. Her eye twitched at the disorder. "How the hell does Komui get any work done?" she couldn't help but ask herself bitingly, still a bit resentful at not being able to train for as long as before.

With a sigh, Colette lowered herself to the small piece of floor that was void of papers and began sorting through some of the many parchments. "Mission...Completed Mission...Letter...Staff Transfer...Completed Mission..."

"Shouldn't you be resting, Colette?" Komui asked his young ward.

Colette looked up at him and then back at her throbbing ankle, which was where his attention was focused. Really, it was just a sprain, why was everyone making such a big deal about it? "Sorting through papers is hardly strenuous, Komui," she intoned dully.

"Hmm," was all the man said, slurping his coffee as she turned back to her work, staring at each paper only for a few seconds before placing them in their corresponding pile.

"Besides, isn't it your job?" she added giving him a rather direct look.

Komui choked on his gulp of coffee and astutely avoided her eye. It was only once he regained his breath that he could adequately change the subject. He coughed lightly. "Anyways…I was looking for you to give you some information."

"Information?" Colette asked suspiciously, eyeing the man cautiously. "What kind of information?"

"I'm sure you've heard of Froi Tiedoll from Kanda?"

Colette grimaced a little at the mention of Kanda's former master. He'd travelled around with the general for a year when he was ten, and he didn't really have a fondness for the man; Colette gathered that their personalities clashed.

"Yeah…"

"He's…shown an interest in taking you on as an apprentice," Komui said, wording it carefully. "Would you like to meet him when he returns to HQ?"

Colette stared at him blankly. "He wants me as an apprentice?"

"Possibly," Komui said with a smile, one that Colette replicated in a matter of seconds.

* * *

"Nii-san?"

Lenalee creaked the door open, hoping in vain that her brother was hard at work, but instead of her brother she found Colette sitting on the floor, straightening a pile of papers.

"Colet-"

The whitette looked up startled, upending her pile of papers she was stacking. A colorful swear escaped her lips as she attempted to sort through it again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Lenalee apologized feverishly, walking quickly to the girl and helping her finish the stack. "I didn't mean to startle you." She'd forgotten how jumpy Colette still was.

"It's not a problem," Colette said easily, taking the papers from Lenalee, and placing them in a box, "the only place these are going is the Mission Archive."

Lenalee caught sight of her heavily bandaged arms. She frowned a little. Wasn't she supposed to be taking it easy on her training with Kanda? "Let me help you, then."

"That would only prolong my boredom, Lenalee," Colette said with a shrug, standing with the stained and wrinkled parchments. "I would rather have something to do."

"You're not supposed to be doing anything, Colette," a voice behind Lenalee reminded the newest Exorcist before nodding to Lenalee. "Hello, Lenalee, welcome back, how was the mission?"

"Fine, Reever." She smiled. "It's good to be back."

Colette made a derisive noise in the back of her throat, sticking out her tongue at the scientist, making Lenalee hide her giggles, before limping out of the room.

"Are you looking for your brother, Lenalee?" Reever asked after Colette had gone.

"Um...yes-" Lenalee said, her eyes following Colette's golem which had remained behind and was now gnawing on Reever's hair.

Reever caught her glance and made a huff of annoyance, doing his best to ignore the golem that grinned devilishly at him when he looked its way. "Your brother's probably still in the cafeteria...the slacker..."

"Roseanne!" Colette's exasperated call spurred the golem into flight and out of the room to be glared at by her irate owner. "You shouldn't be going off on your own!" She chided. "It doesn't take much for you to get lost, remember the cat incident?"

The golem seemed to shiver slightly at the mention of whatever incident Colette was speaking of and moved in close so as not to become lost again. However, it was mere hours later, when the golem flitted around anxiously as its mistress fought furiously against Kanda.

Colette yelped loudly as she was thrown bodily across the room, slamming harshly into the wall, hard enough, she noticed, to leave a few cracks in the stone behind her. An annoyed huff left her lips as she glared up at her sparring companion with was smirking quite vindictively down at her. With a mighty yell, she discarded her frayed training sword, leaping at him and thus catching him by surprise as the two entered into a tussle that had everyone staring at them because of it. But Lenalee, who was watching from the sidelines, didn't even bother to hide her amusement at their antics.

"Oi!" Reever yelled over to them from where the Science Division worked. "The last time you two did that-"

Really, he should have known better, after all, how many times had he attempted to break up their fights and ended up on the receiving end of their anger? Each and every one, that's how many.

"SHUT UP!" They snapped in unison, that dark aura surrounding them once more.

"Give up, Reever," Komui advised from where he was watching and drinking his coffee. "Those two are so stubborn they'd probably end up fighting each other until they _both_ passed out."

An irritated tick mark appeared above Reever's eyebrow as he glared at his boss. "Komui, that's exactly the point; Colette will probably reopen her wounds before she would think of surrendering…and _shouldn't you be working?!_"

"He-he," Komui chuckled nervously, somehow managing to ignore the obscene yells coming from the training area, despite how loud and…vulgar they were starting to become. "How should I put this?"

"KOMUI!"

"Lenalee, save me!" Komui yelled, followed by a very womanly scream that had Kanda and Colette looking up from their battle.

"I guess there would be no point in trying to do anything to help him?" Colette guessed, watching as Reever dragged a helpless Komui through the hall and up several flights of stairs to his supervisor's office, before throwing the man inside and locking the door behind him, firmly ignoring the cries for mercy within.

"None," Kanda said shortly, throwing a fist into her face and knocking her back several paces. He cracked his knuckles menacingly. "Never lose sight of your opponent."

"Oh," Colette said in a casual sort of way, swiping the blood that had trickled from her mouth, "I just thought you needed a break, Yuu, you're looking kind of tired…"

With a growl, Kanda flung himself back into battle, their fight resuming once more.

**AN: So, some old and some new. Junior will not be showing up for the next chapter, but maybe the one after that…I'm not quite sure yet. I'm playing most of this by plot bunny assault...**

**REVIEW! REVIEWS ARE LOVE!**


	3. Leaving

**Disclaimer: Katsura Hoshino owns D. Gray Man**

**Creator of Time: Chapter Three: Leaving**

**AN: Alright, I can't do it! I made an honest attempt, but I'm going back to Japanese honorifics, and stuff, because I just like it much better. Colette is only going to refer to some people with respect, though, she's a bit forward and a bit blunt, you'll hear them more on Lavi, Tiedoll, Lenalee, and Komui than anyone else.**

* * *

"Ta-da! Your uniform!"

Colette held up the coat for inspection. It didn't look anything like Lenalee's (thank God for that; showing so much of her legs…Mana would be _scandalized_), but it was much shorter than Kanda's, because Colette was not good with long hems. The silver and black coat extended to her thighs with slits on the side to make it easier to grab her pistols, and with it came nearly knee-high boots, and black pants.

Females weren't really known for wearing what was known as 'male clothes', but Colette had never had a problem with them, and it suited her well.

"Do you not like it?" Johnny asked, suddenly worried by her silence.

"No, no it's fine," Colette said, a smile brushing against her lips. "I just hadn't…it's great, thanks."

She blinked a few times before gathering up everything, including the specially made headband, intent on her room. The uniform fit marvelously, she had to admit, but she eyed the pistol holsters on each of her thighs in apprehension as she lifted the pistols. They were heavy, now that she thought about it, heavy and remote. They hardly felt as though they belonged to her.

Her synchronization wasn't that high, she knew, being in the seventies, even lower than Lenalee's with her Dark Boots (which Colette had informed had been about as forced upon as Colette's). Colette sighed, strapping on the twin "Salvation," as she had come to call them.

Roseanne fluttered in the air by her head, creating a question mark on her body.

Colette gave her a light scratch under the chin, her smile soft.

"Roseanne…" The golem nudged her hand. "Do you…do you think I'm doing the right thing? Becoming an Exorcist?"

She hadn't been expecting an answer when a fuzzy audio recording was uttered from her golem.

"_They can't tell us who to be," _an angry voice said_. "To hell with them! We make our own paths!"_

It cut as quickly as it began and Colette stared at her for a second before grinning at her. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

Roseanne nodded very seriously as Colette replaced the pistols at her hips gingerly as if she thought they were suddenly going to go off. And then she left the silent room to meander to the Science Division still a bit lost in thought.

"Are you really that bummed about Kanda not being around?"

Colette blinked in an owlish manner to stare at Reever who was arching an eyebrow at her, his lips twitching slightly as she leaned against his desk. Kanda had only left a few days ago on a mission with a man called Suman Dark who didn't appear to be particularly friendly, but then, Kanda also had that affect on people, so it could've just been him. He was actually due back that day.

"Oh, no!" Colette scratched at her cheek in embarrassment. "I'm just lost in thought, I guess, and…"

"And the general is due to arrive today," Reever added, peering at her over his glasses. "Are you nervous?"

The jittery chuckle was all the answer he needed.

"Don't worry, General Tiedoll is really easy-going compared to the other generals. He can't _not_ like someone…unless they're Cross Marian."

The name echoed in her memory, though, from where she couldn't be certain.

"Cross Marian?" She said the name as though it was foreign to her.

Reever rolled his eyes. "The man's a menace, don't worry about it, we're all pretty sure he's dead by now."

The way he said that so cheerfully made her doubt that it was the case.

Colette gave a low sigh. "Oh, well…I'll just go get some air, then…see you."

Reever nodded absently, waving her off as he got back to his work, leaving Colette to dangle her legs into the free air over the edge of the cliff that HQ rested on. Colette huffed, flopping down onto her back with annoyance.

"If Yuu was here," she muttered to herself, jutting out her lips slightly, swinging her legs back and forth like an angry child, "at least there would be something to do."

Roseanne gnawed on a strand of her pale hair as Colette rubber her thumb in a circle on her forehead in irritation before dropping the hand and closing her eyes and just listening. A smile spread across her lips as she tilted her head slightly, her fingers moving before her as though she was playing a piano. She could hear the notes in her head…she opened her mouth and began to sing:

"_Soshite Bouya wa Nemuri ni Tsuita Ikizuku Hai no Naka no Honoo, Hitotsu, Futatsu to Ukabu Fukurami Itoshii Yokogao Daichi ni Taruru Ikusen no Yume, Yume_

_Gin no Hitomi no Yuragu Yoru ni Umare Ochita Kagayaku Omae, Ikuoku no Toshitsuki ga Ikutsu wo Tsuchi e Kaesshitemo_

_Watashi wa Inori Tsuzukeru Douka Konoko ni ai wa Tsunaida te ni Kisu wo…"_

The Song was one she had sung countless times, so many times, in fact, that it was now perhaps ingrained in her mind, along with the notes that went with it. Allen had loved to hear her sing it, it was the song he liked to hear her sing the most of all those that she had sung.

Allen…

Her heart gave a sharp jolt as her thoughts strayed to her younger brother. She wished she could find him and tell him and Mana that she was alright, that she wasn't dead, and she didn't abandon them, but Exorcists weren't allowed to have contact with their families after they were brought into the Black Order, unless they were in the Order like Komui and Lenalee. And at the same time, she didn't really want the Order to know where her family was, after all, they didn't seem to be above using others as leverage to get what they wanted.

And Colette would rather die than tell anyone where they could find Allen. No, she would rather die a _thousand_ times than speak.

* * *

Noise Marie tilted his head slightly, smiling as he picked up the trace of a lovely song. Marie may have been blind, but his hearing was quite acute, and it didn't take much for him to realize that the sound was originating from the Black Order.

"Marie?" His master, Froi Tiedoll (whom he had been tasked with escorting to HQ, despite that the man really didn't need an escort), peered inquisitively at him, though he could not see it.

Froi Tiedoll was not a man that appeared as intimidating as Winters Socalo did. He was in his late thirties with graying hair and was hardly ever seen without a bit of canvas. He may not have seemed like much, but his Innocence was powerful enough to give him the rank of General.

"It's nothing, Master," Marie said lightly, "I can just hear a song on the wind."

Tiedoll's eyes raised behind his glasses. They were nearly at HQ, there was nothing around for miles… "Where is it coming from?"

"Headquarters."

Surprise after surprise…could it be the voice of his soon to be apprentice? However, he was under the impression that Colette Walker's Innocence was a set of twin pistols known as "Salvation," not a voice that could spread out farther than humanly possible.

He contemplated in silence. From his last contact with Komui, which had only been earlier that day, he had learned that the child was hardly seen without Yuu Kanda, his other former apprentice, something that surprised him further, because Kanda had a far from inviting personality. Still, he was surprised when he finally made it to the building at see a bright-faced girl walking side by side with Kanda, though far enough away that she wasn't in his personal space.

"Did you kill any Akuma?" she asked, eyeing his present state curiously. His uniform was a little ripped, but his flesh bore no wounds. Colette's eyes narrowed in curiosity.

"Che, what d'you think?" the Japanese teen asked, rolling his eyes in irritation, but Colette paid him no heed.

"Well…" Colette cupped her chin with a look of determination. "Hard to tell…for all I know, you could have fallen down a cliff-face."

"You little-"

Kanda was reaching to withdraw Mugen from its sheath and Colette fingered her pistols in their holsters, waggling her eyebrows.

"I could decapitate you," he threatened.

"I could blow your brains out," Colette replied cheerfully.

"You're a little brat," Kanda said coolly.

Colette arched an eyebrow as if to say "And you aren't?"

He growled.

"Yuu-kun!"

Kanda swore violently, racing in the opposite direction as his former master made his presence known, Marie chuckling beside him as Colette stared after her friend (one-sided, apparently, according to Kanda, but Colette ignored him) in fascination.

"Does he always do that?" she asked aloud.

"Generally," Marie said in a low baritone and Colette's eyes shifted to the man who had spoken. She hadn't seen him before, but that wasn't surprising as she had only been at HQ for a few weeks. He was large and wearing headphones over his ears. Colette frowned, canting her head a little before realizing that he couldn't see her.

"I'm Colette Walker," she introduced herself.

"Noise Marie." He held a large hand out to her and she felt so small compared to him. "Was that your singing?"

The general watched in fascination from the side as her fair cheeks bloomed with heat and embarrassment.

She laughed softly and nervously. "I didn't realize it was so loud…"

Marie shrugged his shoulders. "I have sensitive hearing." He spared her a wink that forced her to hide a giggle.

"So, you must be the young Exorcist I'm scouting out."

Colette's eyes shifted to the man as he surveyed her. Her eyes were a sheen of grey that flickered silver in the light and her hair was pure white, tied back loosely. His eyes were automatically drawn to black glove on her right arm, hiding her deformity from view.

"Yes, um, hello…" Colette eyed him shrewdly, frowning a little. When she thought of General, she did not think of someone like this man who seemed more like a kindly father than anything else. The thought made a glum expression encompass her face, her thoughts drifting inadvertently to Mana. She forced a smile back onto her face. "Komui told me you wanted to look me over?" It was a statement, but it sounded more like a question.

He smiled. It was kindly, but Colette liked Mana's better; Mana's had more understanding, Mana's was gentler.

"Yes, I am Froi Tiedoll. It's a pleasure to meet you, Colette Walker."

Colette took his hand before starting as her neckline bulged and her golem fluttered into view.

"Rosean-hey, ow!" The golem had knocked her aggressively upside the head in an almost chastising manner.

"What's the deal, you crazy little-" Colette rubbed at the bruised spot on her head, her eyes wincing shut and her nose wrinkling, giving Tiedoll full view of the scar on her face. It was at a slant, obvious and a dark pink, but on her eyelid was the pentagram of the Akuma…very strange…according to Komui, the child had thrown herself between an Akuma and its intended victim. Even he wasn't sure how it would affect her.

"-temperamental, psychotic-"

Tiedoll could feel the sweat-drop gathering on his head. She was still going off on that golem? His eyes sharpened. Though, now that he thought about it, the golem did bear a bit of resemblance to Cross Marian's golden golem, Timcanpy.

Colette pulled at Roseanne's cheeks in irritation. "You can't get so _bloody_ overprotective every time I meet new people!" She snapped her cheeks back into place and the golem spun in a dizzying circle before resting on her mistress' head as though she belonged there.

"Sorry," she apologized, "Roseanne's got this thing against people she doesn't know; the last time she wasn't with me I got kidnapped and carted off to Central."

Tiedoll arched an eyebrow at how darkly she had said "Central." "I see."

Marie spared her a smile before he made his way down the stairs to greet Kanda and any other of his friends he could happen upon along the way.

"Won't you join me for a walk, Walker-san?"

Colette seemed pleasantly stunned, but she smiled as well, following him back out the way he had come, through the waterway until they were in the bright sunlight. The warmth made Colette smile as she tilted her head back, basking in the glow.

Allen hadn't been much of a sun-person, and even Colette preferred moonlight to sunlight, but she had so rarely been outside the European Branch HQ, and she enjoyed it immensely. Colette couldn't stop the soft hum of notes that left her lips.

"Is that your Innocence?" Tiedoll found himself asking, for as soon as the humming had begun…things had begun to _grow_. How strange. The grass turned a brighter green and a few buds burst into full bloom.

She spared him a startled glance and then a light laugh. "Oh, no!" It sounded a trifle forced. How curious. "Salvation is my Innocence." She tapped a finger to the pistols on her thighs. She sounded so bitter, as if she didn't like her Innocence much at all.

"It doesn't really like me," she added as a bit of an afterthought, tugging a little on Roseanne's tail.

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Tiedoll queried.

Colette shrugged. "I dunno, it just feels…_unnatural_." She brushed her fingers against the cloth that covered her arm. As unstable as it was, she would have preferred using her Song over Salvation any day, but the Song was so unruly and she could barely control it. She sighed, perhaps it was for the best then.

"So…what exactly does a general do?"

* * *

Colette hadn't realized that she had spent the rest of the morning well into the afternoon talking to the general. The man was very curious about her, it seemed. She liked that he never brought up her arm, because that was what people asked her about the most. What did you do to your arm? How did it get that way? No one really noticed much in the circus, there they were all freaks, but here…here it was different.

But all good things must come to an end.

Colette's leaving was bittersweet, at least, on her side. She knew that she would get stronger under Froi Tiedoll's tutelage, but at the same time, she'd made so many friends at HQ, well, not so many, but enough in Colette's mind. Lenalee in particular was quite distraught, but Kanda didn't say anything (though Colette knew he'd miss someone to spar against).

"Ah, don't cry, Lenalee," Colette said, patting the younger girl's shoulders awkwardly as she sobbed heartily into the shoulder of her uniform. "I'll be back before you know it! Trust me! I'll be fine!"

"B-b-but you just got here!" Lenalee sobbed, finally releasing her vice-like grip on Colette's clothes to stand slightly away, mopping her tears on her sleeve.

Colette's lips twitched upwards into a slight smile. "I've been here for a couple of weeks, Lenalee, besides, I kind of need the instruction of a General before I can technically be considered an Exorcist." That was the case for most new Exorcists, but some got out of it depending on how well their mastery of their Innocence was, however, Colette needed a lot of training before she could earn the right to call herself an Exorcist.

"But apprenticeships last for twelve whole months!" Lenalee complained, having grown so used to the older girl's presence. "You'll be gone a whole year!"

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't," Colette said in an evasive manner and a casual smile. "Don't be sad, Lenalee-san, a year will pass by before you know it! And then I'll be back and we can go on missions together…won't that be nice?"

"But-" Lenalee didn't want her to go, but she forced herself to stop when Colette ruffled her hair affectionately.

"I look forward to seeing the Exorcist you will become, Lenalee." Colette smiled that kind smile that made her seem brighter than the stars at night. "Don't worry so much, I'll be fine."

Lenalee's lower lip wobbled dangerously, the threat of tears imminent, but she held strong. "A-Alright…um…come back soon!" She forced the smile onto her face, earning her a fond look from Colette as she threw her bag over one shoulder, descending the stairs two at a time until-

Lenalee winced at the sound of her brother latching onto the newest Exorcist.

"No, I refuse!" Komui was wailing now hugging Colette around the waist. "I can't lose my cute assistant!" He had started referring to her as such after she helped him sort through a number of the papers of his office. There was surprisingly more room to walk now, but that just showed how much parchments were actually tossed about in the room. Honestly, it was a bleeding pig sty.

Colette's face was bright red even before she smacked her palm against her face. "Komui, you have another assistant," Colette said rolling her eyes at the older man, referring to his younger sister, "really, Komui, this is ridiculous!"

"No it's not!" Komui proclaimed shaking his head fervently. "You're my assistant!"

A small tick mark appeared above her eyebrow. "Komui," she said with carefully controlled patience, "you were the one who approved this in the first place, _remember_?"

"Yes, but-"

"Get off me, you Sister Complex!" Colette drew back a fist and smacked it against her supervisor's cheek, sending him sprawling. "I'll be back in twelve months, so quite your complaining!"

Kanda sniggered in dark amusement on a landing above.

"You've been hanging out too much with Kanda!" Komui bawled.

Colette rolled her eyes and shook her head a little at the antics of the Branch Chief. "Well, I'm heading out!"

Komui opened his mouth automatically and said, "Be safe."

She laughed as if it was something she had never considered. "Where would be the fun in that, Komui?"

"Colette-chan, ready to go?" Tiedoll was approaching her with that kindly smile of his that never seemed to fade.

"Yeah," Colette said with a grin, "just hang on a second…" She waved upwards towards her friend. "Don't miss me too badly, Yuu!"

His growl was audible even where she was standing, as was the "Damn you!" She laughed briefly before spinning on her heel and joining Tiedoll in the boat on the waterway. Most of the trip away from HQ was spent in silence, but not an uncomfortable one. They had to walk a bit to reach the train, but once they had boarded, Tiedoll assured her that she could sleep, after all, the train ride was hours long, there wasn't much else one could do.

So, Colette closed her eyes and allowed sleep to overtake her, propping her legs onto the cushion opposite her and leaning her head awkwardly against one shoulder. The world around her faded as her dreams burst forth once more.

_"You're weird."_

_The young man looked up from his book to gaze at a child easily five years his junior. He recognized her quite easily, of course; that combination of dark curls and golden eyes belonged to only one Lady Nora Campbell. She was cute he supposed, in an afterthought, but then, all children were. However, it was clear that Nora would be taking very much after her mother, if her current looks were anything to go by._

_Nora's nose twitched slightly as she wrinkled it, staring down at him where he sat on a root of her favorite tree. She was wearing her 'play clothes' which had once belonged to her older brother, Mana, and were obviously more suited for a male, but Nora was the kind of person who didn't care much for public appearances (the young man could easily pick out the grass stains on the knees of the trousers, a variety of rips that needed to be stitched, and her face had a smudge of dirt across one cheek and leaves tangled in her curls)._

_Her golden eyes seemed to glow brightly in the sunlight as she canted her head to the side in a curious movement. They narrowed slightly as she crossed her arms._

_"I'm weird?" he questioned her, though a sly smile slipped onto his face, a smile that had her almost take a step back, but she stopped at the last second. "How's that?"_

_"'Cause you read all the time, that's why," she said stoutly in that all-knowing voice that children often had._

_"I like to read," he said, his blue eyes lighting up just a tiny bit. "Don't you have something you like to do?"_

_Nora bounced on the balls of her feet, nodding in agreement. "I like to sing, and Nea likes to play the piano, we play sometimes for Mother and Mana."_

_He had heard her once; her voice reminded him of some Celtic singers he had heard traveling around. She had a natural quality to her voice that few had._

_"Indeed," was all he said, "and where are your brothers now?"_

_She was rarely unaccompanied, always sticking to her twin's side like glue or hanging off of her elder brother._

_"Busy," Nora said in a noncommittal sort of way. "What's your name?" she asked abruptly._

_A pair of blue eyes blinked. "My name?" he asked startled._

_"You're a member of the Bookman Clan, that's what Mana said~," she sang out the words, tapping her lips with a finger, "so you don't really have a name, but what's your name for this log?"_

_He was impressed, he hadn't ever heard of anyone but the Black Order who knew of the details of his clan._

_"Jean," he said after a long moment. "Currently, I am Jean."_

_"Hm," was all Nora could say to that. "Jean," she said, pronouncing the French name perfectly with her aristocratic tongue. She leaned forward, placing her hands on top of his knees as she invaded his space. She was practically nose to nose with him, something that was undoubtedly unacceptable in that day and age. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion before she leaned away rather suddenly with a "hmph"._

"_I still think you're weird," she repeated in disdain, flouncing off to find a new tree to climb as the one she wanted was currently unavailable, ignorant of the amused eyes watching her._

The Millennium Earl viewed the strange grey-eyed girl to be a thorn in his side. The gall to step between him and his intended Akuma! And then he'd seen a flicker of something, of someone else. Her uninjured eye had slanted and her lips had twisted into a smirk. It was an expression he recognized quite well, one the "Fifteenth" was so known for.

"_Good Evening~ Earl~!" she sang._

**AN: Hope you all like this, because it was giving me a little trouble, but what can you do, eh? Lavi will be showing up next chapter I hope, and Daisya, maybe, and Colette begins to question the Bookman Clan…fun!**

**REVIEW! I NEED THEM!**


	4. The Eye That Sees Souls

**Disclaimer: Katsura Hoshino owns D. Gray Man**

**Creator of Time: The Eye That Sees Souls**

* * *

The first few weeks passed in a blur for Colette, though, she had to admit she was surprised that they hadn't run across any of the famed Akuma, but then, Master Tiedoll had said, Akuma were more known to frequent more highly populated areas. She and her master had been traveling through more rural areas as of late, making their way to the Eastern part of England, intending to cross into Belgium by ferry.

Colette still felt like she was on square one, though.

She didn't trust Salvation.

Salvation didn't trust her.

The twin pistols felt so heavy in her hands…she wasn't sure if it was wise or not to use them or to fall back to her Song; neither option sounded pleasant to her.

"Co-chan?"

Soon after they had begun their journey, Colette had learned the man had a certain affinity for giving his apprentices cutesy nicknames; Marie and Kanda were apparently given the names, Ma-kun and Yuu-kun. So, she wasn't too surprised when the man began to refer to her as 'Co-chan' after all, it wasn't as if she could make him stop at any rate.

"Hm?" She murmured, her eyes closed, listening to the sound of a far-off flute, the music floating on the wind.

"Are you alright?"

She opened her eyes, her hands still on the grip of the guns. "I'm fine," she said after a moment, "just a little lost in thought, that's all."

Tiedoll's gaze fell to her distant eyes, as if she was still in the grasp of a dream or an old memory. Sometimes she would get like that, he knew, melancholic.

"You know what I said about that," he said in a mild tone.

Colette's shoulders slumped and she rolled her eyes in irritation with a low groan escaping her lips. "Yes, Master…always be aware of the moment, any brief lapse of attention may cause Akuma to strike you down," she recited from memory, making the man chuckle. "But we haven't seen an Akuma in weeks," she complained, which was to mean, at all. "I don't even know what to look for!"

She knew that the Akuma that she had seen before she was taken to Central was just the skeleton of Dark Matter, but she had Akuma research shoved down her throat when she was back at HQ. Level One was rather circular with dozens of gun barrels located around its body, but Level Twos varied in appearance and abilities (that was to say, perhaps one could create ice while another could make earthquakes, or even freeze people in time).

"Master…" Colette said in her 'I'm thinking of a question' voice.

"Hm?" Tiedoll asked absently, sketching a lovely willow across a canvas.

"Why do we wear these uniforms?"

"What do you mean?" Tiedoll asked in an absent manner as he lifted his eyes from the canvas.

Colette fiddled with one of the silver buttons, only stopping when her master's fingers pried hers gently from the metal. He knelt so that he was more level with her, his eyes kind.

"We wear these coats so that the Akuma and all those that associate with them will know who we are."

"Why?" Colette asked in confusion.

"So they will come to us, so they will attack us. We make ourselves targets to protect others," Tiedoll said simply, tugging on a loose lock of her pale hair before straightening as a look of contemplation overtook her features. Colette raised a hand to the smooth silver cross on her breast as they passed through a small town, heading for the port.

Master and the others made themselves targets? Didn't that mean that they didn't trust anyone? Colette frowned. It didn't seem like a very nice way to live. She closed her eyes, for a moment recalling Junior's view on humanity, on what a _disappointment_ humans were.

Colette lifted her hand to her right eye suddenly, making a startled noise as the eye began to throb.

"Colette?" Tiedoll was frowning as he pulled her hand gently from her eye, his own eyes widening in surprise at what was revealed beneath. The eye that had been cut by Dark Matter was now very different from the way it normally appeared. It had completely blacked out with a small red pentagram at the center where the pupil should have been and a single red ring surrounding it.

The world was now in two lights; black and white.

Her eyes bulged as she stared in front of her, abhorred and sickened. She could feel bile rising in her throat as she stared at it, unable to take her eyes from it. There was a smoky-fiery…something…attached to a person…like a soul…

Colette clamped a hand over her mouth, her eyes squeezing shut. Oh, please say that hadn't been real! Please, oh please, oh _please_…

But when Colette opened her eyes again, it was still there and so was her concerned master.

"Colette, what is it? What do you see?"

"A-Akuma…" Colette said faintly, having no other explanation for what she was seeing. "Innocence, Invocate!"

She fumbled with one of the pistols that glowed green, barely having time to fire off a kill shot before it transformed, and the crowd of people scattered amongst screams.

Colette braced herself heavily on her knees as she became violently sick on the ground in front of her as Tiedoll patted her back soothingly.

"Better out than in," he said.

Colette gave a choked chuckle, her throat stinging like acid. "Is it-Is it always like this?"

"It will get better," Tiedoll promised, "I suppose it helps to have an eye like yours handy, now that we know what it does." Colette gave him a look of exhausted confusion. "At least you know where the enemies are."

Colette wasn't sure if that was a good thing as she fainted.

"_A Bookman? What're they?"_

_Nea peeked his head of dark hair around one side of the tree while Nora peered around the other as their older brother sat with his back to the trunk, his eyes focused on the book in his hand, though not really paying attention to it at all._

_Nora shrugged, canting a head slightly at the boy from the distance, his cropped blonde hair shining golden in the sun. "Dunno…I think it has somethin' to do with books."_

"_Yeah…he's always got a book," her twin agreed before nudging their brother's leg with his foot. "Hey, Mana, what's a Bookman?"_

"_They're recorders of the Secret History," Mana said, not looking up from his book as he turned the page._

"_Eh?"_

_Mana chuckled slightly. "Think of them as librarians who knew too much."_

"_Oh…"_

_Nora ducked quickly. "He's looking this way!" Nea followed her lead, hiding in the tall grass until- "It's clear!"_

_Mana tugged lightly on his younger sister's dress hem. "Nora?"_

"_Hm?"_

_Mana's golden eyes were serious. "Try not to get too close to the Bookman clan, Nora, they're not supposed to have attachments. I've heard that they sometimes kill those that they become attached to."_

_Nora's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"_

"_All I mean I be careful around the Junior."_

* * *

Junior had gotten used to it, frankly, as sad as it was. It wasn't as though he could just go around buying new clothes. His were rather worn down and patched from travel; basically, he looked like someone you could steal from.

"Sorry boys," he said in a bored manner, "I'm afraid I'm all ou-"

A sudden shot cracked in the air, firing right through the main man's chest, causing him to explode. Junior almost lost his balance at the sight.

A hooded figure stepped forward in a strange uniform that he remembered from his studies as what Exorcists of the Black Order wore, the silver rose cross on the breast being a tell-tale sign. Pale pink lips twisted upwards under the hood.

"Now, now, Akuma, picking on one human," she mocked, "that's hardly sporting."

Junior swallowed thickly. Akuma?

She lifted her head and he could see something just barely under the hood, something red and shaped like a pentagram.

"Exor…cist," one of the men said, but he didn't move fast enough to avoid or change, whichever had been first in his agenda. In a matter of seconds, all that was left was the poisonous fumes. Junior coughed and choked.

"Don't inhale," her voice was growing distant…he could barely feel her placing something over his mouth to filter before his eyes rolled back in his head.

Colette stared at the collapsed boy. "I could've sworn he wasn't _this_ weak," she muttered more to herself.

"Found you Exorcist!"

"Shit!" Colette wasn't going to have enough time to move, and she couldn't just leave Junior there wide open to assault.

"Dammit!" she complained. "Why do I always gotta be the nice guy?"

"Too late!" The Akuma cried as violet light rained down on her and she threw her body on top of the unconscious Bookman in an effort to shield him from the poison of the Akuma's blood bullets.

It was painful, there was no denying that, but Colette didn't give an inch, even as the pentacles spread across her skin as the virus infected her. She coughed, painting the ground with her blood.

"You idiot," she rasped, "making me do the stupidest things for you."

She reached and grabbed his sleeve as she shifted sideways, disappearing from the world like a water on a hot day.

The Akuma giggled. "Did ya see that, Earl?" it chortled. "She did it, she definitely did it! She used that thing! That thing we're not supposed to talk abou-" It didn't have time to realize that it had already been set to self-destruct as the Earl clucked his tongue against his teeth, swinging backwards and forwards in his rocking chair, humming the tune that Colette was most known for singing.

"So the little one can use Creation~!" he cried. "How exciting~!"

It was not in the least bit exciting for Colette as she cried out in pain, opening her eyes to a foreign place, a rocky mountain path. The landing had jarred her injuries which seemed far too numerous to count at the moment.

"I am going to die young," she told Roseanne through gritted teeth as she ripped her uniform open to real the sleeveless shirt underneath that was riddled with gashes and was slowly staining red. A low hiss escaped her throat as she hummed her Song softly, caused the blood flowing from her injuries to cease as they were knit shut and the pentacles faded. However, she didn't know how to replace the blood loss, so she was out of luck there.

"Roseanne," Colette sighed, her body aching from the onslaught of attacks, "connect to Master."

Roseanne bobbed her body in agreement, and within seconds a voice filled with static uttered from the golem's wide mouth. "Co-chan?"

"I seem to have run into a bit of trouble, Master," Colette said, forcing herself to stand, walking past Junior's still unconscious form to peer over the edge. Disappointment, irritation, and exasperation warred on her face once she realized she had accidentally taken them a few miles away from where they had first started.

"Define trouble."

Colette chuckled nervously. "Well…funny you should ask…I kind of…teleported…a bit away in the middle of an attack. I saw trying to protect this little idiot, and—"

"Little idiot?" Tiedoll repeated.

"Ginger, irritating, one-eyed, kind of hard to miss," Colette said scowling at the boy in question. "We're…acquaintances…but it'll take a bit to get me and him back into town…just hang tight for awhile."

"Alright…be careful, won't you, Co-chan?"

"You know me," Colette muttered as Roseanne shut the connection, fluttering to rest atop her pale head as she threw Junior's limp body over her shoulder as if he was a sack of potatoes, managing his weight rather well.

"What a _wonderful_ way to meet up with old friends," she grumbled to herself before carefully descending.

* * *

Junior gave a short groan from the slow and steady movement that was slowly giving him a headache. He blinked his single green eyes closed and open several times. Then his heart stuttered once he realized he was being carried above the ground, next to a cliff that fell away rather sharply. He twisted a little on the person's shoulder to stare. It was the girl from before, carrying him like he didn't weigh a thing.

"—the hell?"

"I'm flattered," a dry voice uttered as she bent forward to dislodge him from her back, "but sadly no."

Junior narrowed his only visible eye. That voice…it was familiar.

"I've also got better things to do than be stared at by too-curious Bookman," she added coolly.

"Wait, how'd you know I was a Bookman?" Junior demanded, having to move fast to meet her pace as she had begun to move without him.

"Oh, _please_," she snorted and Junior was almost sure she was rolling her eyes under that hood. "I'm not stupid."

"Why are you hiding your face?" he asked tactlessly and she stiffened her spine.

"I am _not_ hiding my face," she said in an affronted voice, "people tend to stare a lot because of how I look."

Sounded like hiding to Junior. "D'you look scary?"

He could practically feel her irritation as she lifted one gloved hand to remove the hood, allowing him to see the face beneath. Scary, not so much, curious, perhaps. She couldn't have been more than thirteen or fourteen, but her hair was as pale as snow, tied in a loose French braid, from which hair was already falling from. Her only visible eye was grey, the other hidden under the slant of headband patterned with fish-scales, but it couldn't hide the scar that sliced through her eye at a diagonal. Wait…her eye…it was grey…and she was smirking at him…

"No way!" Junior said agape, recognizing her instantly. "Lettie-chan?"

The single grey eye rolled and she made an irritated noise in the back of her throat as she flipped her hood back up.

"Strike~!"

"What are you going on about?" she demanded.

"And _damn_! You look _good_!"

A bit of heat rushed to spill into her cheeks when she banged her fist aggressively down on the top of his head.

"_Ow!"_ he complained.

"You deserved it," Colette sniffed. "Honestly! You have zero self-control!" Roseanne bulged under her collar to pop out and stare seriously in Junior's direction before fluttering back to Colette's head to gnaw on its owner's hair.

Junior canted his head to the side, staring intently at the red flying ball. "Is that a golem?" He leaned in close, studying its design, memorizing every detail.

"Maybe," Colette grumbled, still irritated at his antics as they neared the base of the mountain.

The red golem bared its teeth in a grin at the red-head who stared. He pointed. "Does it always do that?"

Colette tilted her head back and Roseanne rubbed her face against Colette's. "Possibly, Roseanne's one of a kind."

"So…where exactly are we?"

Colette made a noise of annoyance. "About a mile off from where we were when you went foolishly and got yourself cornered by a few Akuma."

Junior chuckled nervously. She was definitely chastising him.

"Master knows we're heading his way," Colette said in an unconcerned manner, "but why wasn't Bookman with you?"

"Eh? Oh, the Panda-jiji's probably around somewhere," Junior said in a vague manner. He grinned at her. "You know how worried he gets about me." He meant it as a joke, since the old man spent more time injuring him than anything else, but her eye turned the color of storm-clouds, deep in thought. "Hey, you alright?"

"I'm fine," Colette said, her wince almost unnoticeable as her right arm brushed against her side. She'd used her Song too much today, her whole arm was starting to throb.

"You don't look fine."

"Well, I am," Colette said hotly.

Junior hid a sigh. "Back at square one, huh?" When she positively hated him.

"Going to erase me from history anytime soon?" she retorted and he stared.

"_What?"_

"I'm not stupid," Colette said, repeating her words from earlier, "aren't the Bookman Clan well known for killing those they get too close to?"

"That's been out of favor for centuries," Junior said, eyeing her strangely. "How do you even know that? You knew a lot about the clan when we were kids too, didn't you?"

Colette bit the inside of her mouth before speaking. "Dreams."

"Dreams?"

"That is what I said, wasn't it?" she snapped.

"Dreams about Bookmen?" Junior said dubiously.

"Sometimes," Colette said evasively, walking faster so that he had to jog to keep up. "Has anyone told you that you're an annoyingly persistent bastard?"

His jade-colored eye lit up in amusement. "Oh, many times," he assured her with a grin, "it's my charm~!"

"What charm?" Colette demanded. "You're hardly the charming type."

"Lettie-chan!" Junior gasped in a mock-stunned manner. "I am _so_ the charming type!"

She rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched slightly so Junior called it a win for him. "You're hopeless."

"You would know."

She laughed that time. "I'm sure you've got others friends, Junior."

He winked…well, she supposed that was what it was; it was hard to tell with one eye. "No one like you."

That was to say no one at all.

Her smile softened. "You're such an idiot," she said fondly and he laughed too.

"That's what the old man tells me."

"Co-chan!"

Two heads flashed up at the sudden voice. Junior didn't recognize the man, but he was wearing gold on his Exorcist uniform, so that made him a general and-

"Master!" Colette cried in relief, surging forward to throw her arms around his middle. "I thought you might've ditched me!"

"Ah, my young apprentice, you have confused me with Marian again," the man chortled as she released him. "And this must be the young ginger, irritating, one-eyed idiot."

Colette's face burned like a lantern and Junior laughed. "That'd be me, Lettie-chan usually describes me in more insulting terms."

"For good reason," Colette huffed as her master arched an eyebrow. "This is Junior, as in Bookman Junior."

"Ah," Tiedoll said, nodding in understanding, "I have heard the tales of your clan."

Junior inclined his head slightly. "Well, the adventure's been nice and all, but I should get back before the Panda gets too worried."

He had hardly walked fifteen feet past when Colette called his name, jogging up to meet him. "What's your name for this log?"

He stared at her, his mouth opening slightly. She had never asked him that before. "Maru," he said automatically.

"Maru."

His current name rolled off her tongue as if it was strange oddity. And then she smiled. "Whenever you see those foolish humans causing foolish wars, remember me, yeah?"

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What d'you mean?"

"Because I'm the most foolish of them all~," she sang, waving farewell as she darted back to her master's side, taking back something that looked an awful lot like a violin.

"Colette Walker," he murmured her name to himself as she left with the man, explaining something with feverish hand gestures, "still wearing that shield like always." The most foolish of them all, was she? Junior chuckled. Well, he supposed, she was still the girl that would start a war over her brother.

"Old friend?" Tiedoll guessed when they were far enough away that they couldn't be heard by the 'ginger-haired idiot'.

"Sort of," Colette said with a shrug. "I used to steal books when I was a kid, before I became a tightrope walker. I stole a couple things for Bookman and Junior."

"He seemed to like you quite a bit," Tiedoll noted, keeping an eye out for her reaction.

Colette smiled a faint, vague smile. "Did he? He's a very hard book to read."

"You were being more rude than usual to him," Tiedoll noticed.

"Eh, he can take it," she said in a dismissive fashion. "Junior's made of tough stuff, I mean, he lived through being shot."

"Someone shot him?" Tiedoll asked in surprise.

"At the age of seven," Colette mused, "I mean, it was an accident, but he still almost died. I'm sure Bookman could have healed him up, but he brought him to me." She shrugged. "Bookman's even harder to read that Junior…it might actually be a requirement for the Bookman Clan, now that I think about it…"

"You like him."

Colette frowned. "Depends on the day," she said airily. "He can be cute, he can be an idiot, he can be smart…sometimes I just want to use him as target practice…"

Tiedoll could feel a sweatdrop forming on his head as she said this while fingering the pistols at her waist, as if the idea gave her pleasure. "You and Yuu-kun aren't that different, are you?" he asked with a light shake of his head.

Colette gave him a bright and cheery smile that sent a shiver down his spine. "Of course we are, Master," she said sweetly, "you know I've got a much better personality than Yuu."

But Tiedoll couldn't be sure. Once you got either of them going, neither would give any until the other conceded defeat first…something which was doubtful, he had to admit, after watching one of their sparring matches before leaving with Tiedoll for her training. And they both had pretty foul tongues…

"You'll be seeing him soon," he said, smiling at her confused look. "Your training is almost at its end. You will be returning to Headquarters shortly."

Colette positively beamed. "Really?" She'd missed Kanda's perpetual scowl and vulgar mouth, Lenalee's bright presence, Reever's patient voice, and Komui's antics. You don't know its home until you start missing it, isn't that right?

Her eye became forlorn as her thoughts drifted towards Allen.

"Did I say something wrong again?" Tiedoll asked.

"Oh, no!" Colette said quickly with an easy smile. "It wasn't you…I was just thinking about my little brother, that's all!"

And when her eyes closed that night, yet another memory-like dream plagued her.

"_Mana will wake up soon, won't he, Mother?"_

_The girl who was speaking was small, maybe seven or eight, wearing boyish clothes that were stained from rolling around in the grass and a leather strap held her dark curls from her face. Her eyes were red from crying and she was holding the hand of a slumbering boy in a bed, her lower lip wobbling like she was going to start crying again._

"_I know he will," she said, not waiting for her mother to speak, her voice shaking and her eyes filling with tears. "Mana's strong, stronger than anyone gives him credit for! He's going to be fine!"_

_Her mother came up behind her, her smile soft as she rubbed circles into the girl's back, murmuring words of encouragement._

"_Wake up," the girl whispered, "Please, Nii-san, please wake up…" she spoke even lower so that her mother could not hear. "I'm so scared, Mana, please, help me."_

**AN: So Colette's being purposefully bitchy towards Junior, just because she can! Quite a contrast from how I wrote them last time, but oh well, she'll grow out of it. I really want Allen to show up sooner or later, but it's definitely going to be later…**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**


	5. Long-Awaited Return

**Disclaimer: Katsura Hoshino owns D. Gray Man**

**Creator of Time: Chapter Five: Long-Awaited Return**

* * *

Colette Walker was very tired, yawning so widely that she could have probably fit Roseanne completely into her mouth as she exited the late night train. She weaved through the crowd, being careful of her bag and violin secured to her back.

"I'm going to sleep for days when we get back to HQ, Roseanne," Colette said, sighing at the very thought. It was pitch black and impossibly for her to tell what time it was exactly, but she knew it was late and that most people would be sleeping.

A small laugh escaped her. She doubted the Science Division would be, though, they seemed to hardly ever sleep.

"The Science Division is probably working themselves to the bone again," she mused to Roseanne. "What do you think?"

Roseanne merely nestled in her pale hair that seemed more like a shining beacon in the moonlight than it ever did when she was in the sunlight. Colette took that to be agreement.

She had grown much over the year, even Master had said so. Her uniform, which had once been in prime condition, was in tatters, riddled with cuts that hadn't been mended and far too tight in some areas. Her white hair was shorter than it had been when she had first come to the order, but it was still long, falling down her back in a braid, so many hairs already falling loose and in her face. The headband seemed to be the only thing untouched where it rested, slanted over her eye.

Colette was momentarily lost in her daydream about sleep, humming a song softly to herself, accidentally glancing off of a finely dressed man as she passed.

"Pardon me, _shoujo_."

"Oh, sorry," Colette was quick to apologize, the voice that drawled both setting her on edge and making her cheeks flush with heat. It rang in the back of mind, as though she should have known to person to whom it belonged to.

Tyki Mikk watched her go with an air of curiosity that was shared by the young girl that swung at his side, Road Camelot.

"She's cute~!" Road sang by his said, swinging his arm back and forth, giggling like a child as she sucked on her lollipop.

"I suppose," Tyki mused in an uncaring manner that fooled no one, least of all Road. "She must be quite something to have gained the Earl's attention.

"Hm," Road could only hum, "and to know that Melody, too."

The Exorcist had no idea she had accidentally bumped into two of the Clan of Noah, a clan to whom she had an old tie to, a tie that even she was not aware of. She had no way of knowing she had collided with "Pleasure" and "Dreams".

"I think her dreams would be interesting, don't you?" Road asked the man who was still staring after the girl with an odd expression on his face. Irritated, Road kicked him in the shin, earning her a light glare.

"What was that for?" he demanded as the girl disappeared from his sight.

"Do you think her dreams would be in-ter-est-ing?" Road asked, speaking the word slowly as if talking to a child.

"Possibly," he drawled.

Colette sighed as she began to pick her way through the forest in the direction of where the Black Order European Branch was located. Roseanne was in a bit of a tizzy.

"Does he seem familiar to you?" she asked her golem and Roseanne shook her head quickly, but it was a little fast, like when you were denying something.

Colette narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the golem who seemed to sweat slightly under the examination. "Should I be worried about him _at this time?"_ she asked the carefully worded question.

Roseanne hovered in the air, appearing to think about before giving a slow and sure second shake of the head.

"Fine," Colette muttered in her _I'm-too-tired-to-deal-with-you_ voice. She had used it an awful lot when her Master just got too _bloody_ ridiculous. Colette ducked under a loose branch, skipping over a thick root at the same time, whistling softly to herself as she entered into a small clearing, removing one of the small canoes from where it lay hidden, pulling an ore loose as well. Roseanne fluttered around her head as her mistress placed the canoe into the water and rowed it into the waterway tunnel.

She yawned again, rubbing at her eyes in an effort to make herself more awake, but it didn't seem to be working. She smacked Roseanne harshly against the floor of the canoe so suddenly that the golem bared its teeth at her in an almost feral manner.

"If I don't get to sleep yet," she said fiercely, "you don't get to sleep."

The movement it made in response could have been described as a huff of irritation, if one was trying to compute Roseanne's motions to human motions and expressions.

It seemed like an age had passed before Colette could come to tie the canoe to the dock and step out and into her home once more, stretching widely.

"Welcome home."

The voice rang in the silence and drew her attention, the familiarity making her grin widely.

Komui Lee hadn't changed much in the year she'd been gone. It was almost as though he'd known she was coming (though that might have also been from the golems that monitored everyone that approached the castle).

Colette smiled in a way that was a far cry from the fake ones she had worn before leaving with Tiedoll. This smile seemed to brighten her whole face.

"Komui!" she cried his name, throwing her arms around him in a spontaneous hug that he hadn't been expecting in the least.

"I'm home," she murmured.

"You're home," he repeated, giving her an affectionate squeeze.

If only Allen were here…then everything would be perfect. Colette smiled against Komui's white coat. Allen and Mana would make this perfect.

* * *

Lenalee was practically bubbling with excitement when her Nii-san told her that Colette had just returned from her apprenticeship under Froi Tiedoll. But her brother had warned her away from Colette's room (it was the easiest to find, as her friend had long since painted an Ace of Spades onto the surface in an effort to be able to find it), saying that she had been very tired when she came in late the previous night so she should let her rest.

Lenalee had sulked quietly at that, but she conceded. She knew that she wouldn't've wanted someone to wake her up when she was catching up on some well deserved rest.

She skipped down the halls, following the distinct pitched notes of what sounded vaguely like a violin, which was strange, since no one in HQ was musically inclined.

Lenalee leaned against the balcony, tilting her head upwards towards the sound, a bright smile encompassing her face at the sight.

It was her.

Colette was leaning against the railing, Kanda doing much the same, though with an appropriate amount of distance between them, nothing at all close. She kept his attention, which was surprising enough, as she rested her violin under her chin, her bow contrasting as it moved across the strings in fast and slow paces. It was lulling like a lullaby and quick and excited like a dance.

Lenalee hadn't even known Colette could play.

The climax of the song spilled over and into its resolution until the sound, at long last, came to a halt.

"Should I be impressed?" Kanda asked in a way that was completely Kanda.

Lenalee could see a pout forming on her friend's lips, though it was clearly faked. "Aw, Yuu! I worked hard on that song~!"

"And stop calling me by my first name!" he snarled.

"What's wrong with Yuu?" Colette sang. "I like _Yuu_ better than _Kanda_~!"

She danced out of the way as her friend tried to throw a punch at her. "Come back here you little brat!"

"I'm as old as you!"

"Not as tall, though!"

A tick mark appeared on Colette's forehead, as one often did when someone made a jab at her about her lack of height. "I'll have you know," she said with a lilt of danger. "My height is average…just because you're…_well endowed_ with the impressive genes of height…"

Kanda gave her a superior smirk that earned him a rather nettled expression.

"…I hate you," Colette informed him resolutely, before something interrupted them.

"Colette!"

"Eh?" Colette barely had time to blink before something small and rather solid careened into her side, knocking her beloved instrument from her hands and causing her to fall to the floor. Colette grimaced slightly. She'd sustained some injuries a few days prior that were being slow to heal and now they were throbbing from the assault. But she tried to keep it off her face as best as she could.

"Le-na-lee," Colette said slowly, disjointing the younger girl's name as she continued to fiercely hug her as though there was no tomorrow. "You are going to be the death of me, and I mean that quite literally."

"Sorry!" Lenalee reddened as she said her apology, removing herself from Colette who began to rub her ribs in a ginger fashion, murmuring something intelligible under her breath as she did so. "Did you get hurt on the way back? Oh, hi Roseanne!"

The red golem, which had been hiding under Colette's hair was now holding onto her mistress' violin and bow with her tail from when they had fallen, grinned widely at her. Lenalee had always wondered about that, because it looked as though it wanted to eat her, but Colette assured her, that Roseanne grinned like that at people she liked.

Colette took the instrument from her golem, not even blinking as it began to gnaw on her head. She didn't seem to notice it at all.

"Yuu's been telling me it's been very busy," Colette said conversationally as Lenalee carefully wrapped her arms around her waist.

Kanda growled at the use of his name, but said nothing more.

Lenalee bobbed her head in a fast nod. "Yeah," she agreed, "we've gotten really short breaks between missions…Nii-san says the Akuma have been more active than usual."

"Hm," Colette said, frowning intently. "There were an awful lot in Turkey," she mused, the frown becoming darker. "In fact, there was more than usual everywhere we went…"

Colette's eyes met Kanda's and Lenalee saw something pass between them.

"What is it?" she asked, twisting her head back and forth to look at each of them. "What's wrong?"

Colette plastered a fake smile to her face that Lenalee saw through instantly. "It's nothing, Lenalee, don't worry about it."

Of course, Lenalee didn't believe her, but it wasn't as though she could force her to tell her.

Colette tugged lightly on one of her pigtails, smiling in a serene manner. "See you soon, Lenalee, Yuu's got to take me to the infirmary before Matron-san threatens me with death."

And with that, she tugged on Kanda's wrist, pulling him up the stairs as he swore loud enough to startle a few Logistics Division members as they passed.

"Spit it out," he told her when they were alone.

The fake smile slid from her face to be replaced with an uncharacteristically serious expression. "It's been happening for weeks," she said quietly, "Master was concerned they might be following him, not me, but…"

She fell silent briefly as Number Sixty-Five passed them, speaking only once he had disappeared again.

"The Akuma followed me instead, and we don't know why," Colette breathed.

"Why would the Earl care about you?" Kanda asked.

Colette shook her head helplessly. "I have no idea."

"Did you tell Komui?"

"Are you kidding?" Colette demanded. "He probably won't let me out on missions if the Earl shows himself to be…more inclined to go after me."

This was true.

"So, don't tell anyone, Yuu," Colette said, her grip tightening just slightly over his wrist, "not until I figure things out, myself."

Kanda looked her in the eye and for a long moment, he didn't say anything, but at long last and after staring into Colette's unwavering eyes, he conceded to her.

* * *

"_You're looking rather lovely, Lady Campbell."_

_Nora blinked, startled by the familiar voice. She peered up to the young man who had just bowed to her; she recognized his vibrant blue eyes and the short cropped blonde hair, but also the calm smile._

_Her own smile spread across her lips as she grinned up at him. "Hello, Jean, or is it a new name now?"_

_He scratched his cheek with an apologetic smile. "It's now Shannon."_

"_Indeed," she hummed, jumping down from stone balcony that she had been sitting on, noting with a pleased smirk that he was subtly looking her up and down. Mother had insisted that she dress up for the occasion, and even Nea had to give her a compliment of how nice she looked. The midnight blue gown hugged her curves, but was still modest with a lace headband holding her dark curls at bay. The dark make-up around her eyes made them seem a darker gold. She had grown up since he'd last seen her and was now a young woman of fifteen and clearly had several possible suitors looking out for her, but here she was, giving only him her attention. "Is something wrong?"_

"_Hm?"_

_She'd caught him ogling, it seemed. His cheeks pinked as he smiled sheepishly at the heiress._

_She smirked wider, placing a delicate hand on her silken hip. "Is this where you ask me for a private dance in the gazebo, Future Bookman-san?"_

"_Ah," he fumbled, "of course!"_

_She took the initiative and looped her arm through his, leading him away by the grip of her hand which was deceptively tight._

_The night was clear and open, the bright stars were tiny pinpricks in the sky overhead. The wind was a bit cool, but Nora didn't mind. She placed a hand on his shoulder, the other one clasping his hand as they swayed gently to music only they could hear._

"_How goes the recording?"_

"_Well enough," Shannon said with an easy smile. "How goes the singing?"_

_She smirked. "Well enough." She stuck out her tongue in a childish gesture that didn't fit her at all. "But I bet that my singing's gotten better than your study habits."_

_The laugh he gave her shook his shoulders as he tried to restrain it, but her smile made it worth it._

* * *

"It's not as bad as it looks," Colette promised, though she still reeled a little backwards in fear at the look in the Matron's eyes.

"Not as bad as it looks?" she repeated angrily. "Not as _bad_ as it _looks?!"_

"It's not!" Colette insisted, crossing her arms over her stomach.

"Oh, it is _definitely_ as bad as it looks!" the Matron raged. "An Exorcist goes off on an apprenticeship for a year and comes back with some internal bleeding and broken ribs!"

"I stopped the internal bleeding before I went to sleep!" Colette complained, quailing slightly under the glare she received.

"And how would you do that?"

"Nothing I'm at liberty to say," Colette grumbled, lying back on the bed, cringing as the Matron set her bones so that they would mend.

"Stupid, macho Exorcists," the Matron muttered under her breath, tying one last bandage and taking in Colette's noise of slight pain by doing so. "You're not to move until I say so!"

"B-B-But _food!"_ Colette cried in anguish, restraining only just barely from beating her arms and legs against the bed like a child.

The Matron's stare was flat. "Something will be brought up for you—"

"But you know how much I eat!"

"Yes," the Matron said dryly, "I do, so I don't see why you're so concerned."

Colette's cheeks burned a faint pink and she muttered something under her breath about wanting to eat with her friends, but she was ignored as the Matron left to attend to other things.

Colette threw her head back and groaned rather audibly. She didn't want to be stuck in the stupid infirmary, dammit! She would have crossed her arms, but that would have irritated her healing bones, so she just sulked.

After a certain amount of time had passed, Colette found her mind drifting off. The dreams she'd had for as long as she could remember were coming only in intervals now. She would go for days with the dreams, and then they would suddenly vanish, leaving her feeling a little colder and emptier. But she didn't know why she felt that way. After all, it wasn't as though they were her memories…they belonged to someone else…she was certain…

Colette closed her eyes, hoping for a dream of peace for once, but in this endeavor, like many things, Colette was out of luck.

"_Nea!" Nora complained, attempting to straighten her prefect curls after her twin brother mussed them with his hand. "Why do you have to be like that?"_

_The wild haired boy smirked at his slightly older sister. "Come on, Nora!" he said with a laugh. "You hate these parties as much as me!"_

"_At least I'm smart enough not to show it!" Nora glared at her brother, crossing her arms and jerking her head away from him._

"_Fighting again, you two?"_

_Nora's bad mood disappeared almost instantly at the reappearance of her older brother, whom she gladly pounced on. Nea –being the manly one– was such more subtle in how happy he was to see his brother._

"_How was the trip into town?" Nora asked first, tugging on the beige sleeve of his trench coat. Mana had gone into town for a few days to assist their uncle with some manner of business. What exactly, Nora and Nea neither knew, nor cared._

"_Boring without you," Mana ruffled both of their heads, and this time Nora didn't complain._

"_You look like a girl," Nea said shortly, looking him up and down, referring to the long hair that Mana had tied back with a simple ribbon. However, mere seconds after he had said so, he had fallen to his knees, clutching his ribs in pain. "Ah! Nora! That hurt!"_

_Nora ignored him, smiling up at Mana. "I think you look dashing," she informed him with a bright smile. "The long hair looks better on you."_

_Mana gave her a sweet smile, bending down to press a kiss to her temple. "That warms my heart, Nora, never change."_

_She only gave him that vague smile he had grown accustomed to in return, her golden eyes dancing in the sunlight._

* * *

Kanda was groaning on all fours, his chest throbbing from the hit he'd just received from Colette who was now whistling a tune and acting completely innocent.

"What's the matter, Yuu~?" she sang. "Getting a little lax in your old age, eh?"

"Why, you—I'm the same age as you!" Kanda snapped, using the same response she had days prior, lunging at her and grabbing her by the ankle and hoisting her into the air, much like he had in one of their first sparring sessions.

"You've got to get some new tricks," Colette said in a dry voice, twisting her entrapped ankles so that his arms twisted in turn, throwing all of weight on her legs which then put pressure on his upper body, knocking him to the ground.

Colette breathed hard, her hand at his throat. For a moment, there seemed to be almost a glimmer of something darker, but then she spared him an exhausted smile. "I've been wanting to try out that move for wee-_ah!"_

"Get off me, you idiot!" Kanda said gruffly, shoving her off him to land with a flump beside him, her back to him. For a moment, it seemed as though she was doing nothing more than trying to get her breath back, but then it became obvious that she was laughing.

Kanda sat up, thunderstruck, glaring at her. Was she _laughing_ at _him?_

"It's been so long since we fought," she said amidst her chuckles. "I've missed it."

"Che," Kanda grunted. "You'll be on your own for awhile."

She rolled over to look at him with curiosity in her eyes.

"Mission."

"Ah," Colette murmured, "I see."

"You'll probably be sent out sooner or later," Kanda told her as she pulled herself into a sitting position.

"Here's to hoping," Colette said, casting him a grin, "though, I'd only be comfortable with you as my partner."

Kanda arched an eyebrow. "Not Lenalee?"

Colette made a slight one-shoulder shrug. "I read you better than I read Lenalee."

He couldn't disagree with her there.

"Hey, Colette!" a Finder neither of them knew peered over the balcony. "Komui needs to see you!"

"Duty calls, I suppose," Colette said with a dramatic and forlorn sigh as she stood, brushing her pants with her hands. Kanda found it was almost easy to forget she had one screwed up arm when she kept it completely covered all the time. "See ya around, Yuu~!"

"It's Kanda!"

She, of course, ignored him, skipping off to Komui's office, but her attitude changed very quickly when she came face to face with the man.

"I have a mission for you," Komui told her with a very serious face that hardly suited him.

"A mission?" Colette repeated in a dubious manner. "Already?"

This time, Komui cracked a grin, but it was a brief one. "Enjoying your free time, Colette-chan?"

"Well, it's the first time I've had any in a year," Colette said in a bland voice, "so I'd say yeah, I'm enjoying my free time."

The smile faded.

"Why? Is the mission difficult?" Colette asked in a bit of confusion.

"Well, that would have to depend on the perspective," Komui admitted.

"And what kind of perspective are you referring to?" Colette asked, her eyes narrowing, her body tensed as if preparing for an attack.

"The Exorcist you are to be partnered with is Sol Galen."

Her heart beat quickened as a flash of fear flooded her veins at the mere thought of the person who had her brought to Central, the one who had ruined everything. Her hair hid her eyes from view, but her gritted teeth and painfully clenched fists were clear to see.

"Oh?" she said quietly, her tone dangerous. "Are you quite certain you want to make that decision, Komui-_san?"_

If he was surprised by the honorific that she used, he didn't show it.

"Regrettably, it's the only choice I can make at this time," Komui admitted, looking her head on. "Sometimes we must push aside our feelings and do what is requested of us."

Colette gave a soft chuckle at that, but it lacked any real emotion. "You know, Bookman told me that once," she mused, "it's not a very good philosophy to have, Komui."

Komui spread his hands at his side as if to say "Ah, well."

Colette took the folder with the details of the mission within, turning her back on Komui. "Tell Galen if even touches me…I'll sever his head from the rest of him."

Komui blinked, a little stunned. "Isn't…Isn't that a bit much?" he asked a little nervously.

"Doesn't seem like it to me," Colette said with an uncaring tone. "In fact…I'll be golden if he doesn't open his fat gob at all, why don't you pass that on?"

Colette wrenched the door to his office open, shutting it with such a loud slam that it cracked the frame as well as the wall.

Komui winced, but he had been expecting a reaction like that from her, so… He sighed. It was a bit unfortunate, really.

_Her breaths were sharp, her eyes wide._

"_Joyd…"_

_The insane smile that lit his lips terrified her more than anything. Her eyes shifted to the red mass in his hand and the stilled form on the ground._

_She opened her mouth and screamed._

**AN: And poor Colette is still being plagued by those dreams! And her run-in with Tyki and Road didn't really help! Junior might be popping up next chapter…I'm not really sure…College is meh, but I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can!**

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**


End file.
